The following disclosure relates to processing a message, such as a short message or a multi-media message.
Short messaging service (SMS) is a globally accepted service for transmitting short messages between wireless devices. Typically a “short message” is 160 alpha-numeric characters or less, and can be transmitted between mobile subscribers, e.g., using mobile telephones, over a wireless network or between a mobile device and a system external to the wireless network, such as application server for handling electronic mail or paging.
SMS uses the mobile application protocol (MAP) which, in the mobile network context, is an application layer protocol designed to support database interrogation and mobility management, and uses the services of the SS7 (Signalling System No. 7) transaction capabilities application part (TCAP). The American and the international standards bodies have defined a MAP layer using the services of the SS7 TCAP: the American standard is published by the Telecommunication Industry Association and is referred to as IS-41, and the international standard is defined by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute and is referred to as GSM (global standard for mobiles) MAP. Some additional protocols used in short messaging include the Short Message Peer to Peer (SMPP) protocol, an open industry standard messaging protocol designed to simplify integration of data applications with wireless mobile networks, and the Universal Computer Protocol (UCP).
A short messaging entity (SME) is an entity which may receive or send short messages, and may be located in a fixed network or a wireless network. For example, a SME can be a mobile station (MS), such as a mobile telephone, that sends and receives messages over a wireless network. A different example of an SME is a personal computer used to receive short messages into an e-mail account via an e-mail server that communicates with a wireless network.
Referring to FIG. 1, a base station system (BSS) 110 receives a short message transmitted from a mobile station (MS) 105. For example, the mobile station 105 can be a mobile telephone, and a user can input the short message using a user interface on the mobile telephone, and include a destination number that is associated with a recipient mobile station 145, i.e., a telephone number. A base-station system 110 typically consists of base-station controllers and base-transceiver stations and is responsible for transmitting voice and data traffic between mobile stations. The base-station system 110 transmits the short message to a mobile switching center (MSC) 115. The mobile switching center 115 performs switching functions for a mobile system and controls calls to and from other telephone and data systems; typically a MSC 115 services multiple base-station systems.
The short message is routed from the mobile switching center 115 to a short messaging service center (SMSC) 120. The SMSC 120 is responsible for the relaying and store-and-forwarding of a short message between short message entities, including mobile stations. The SMSC 120 makes a determination based on the destination number, for example, using a look-up table, whether the short message should be rerouted to a different SMSC or whether routing information for the short message can be obtained by the SMSC 120 from a home location register (HLR) 125. For the sake of simplicity, in this example, the SMSC 120 determines that routing information can be obtained from the HLR 125, and proceeds to interrogate the HLR 125 for the routing information. An HLR 125 is a database used for permanent storage and management of subscriptions and service profiles of network users. The routing information provided by an HLR 125 is at the “MSC level”, meaning an HLR 125 can provide information as to which MSC in a wireless network to which to route the short message so that it can be routed to a recipient mobile station 145 associated with the destination number.
Based on the routing information, the SMSC 120 transmits the short message to a MSC 130 that is presently servicing the recipient mobile station 145 (i.e., as the recipient mobile station 145 moves through the network, the MSC that is presently servicing the mobile station 145 can change). The MSC 130 interrogates a visitor location register (VLR) 135, which is a database that contains temporary location information about network users that are currently in the area of a base station serviced by the MSC 130. That is, the location information in the VLR 135 is at the base station transceiver (i.e., cell tower) level, as compared to the routing information provided by the HLR 125, which is at the MSC level. Based on information received from the VLR 135, the MSC 130 routes the short message to a base-station system 140 and from there the short message is delivered to the recipient mobile station 145.
Delivery of the short message to the recipient mobile station 145 is based on the destination number input by the user of the sender mobile station 105. In addition to the destination number, the short message typically includes a sender number, that is, a number that is associated with the sender mobile station 105, such as the sender's mobile telephone number. The recipient mobile station 105 can reply to the short message, which reply is automatically routed to the sender mobile station 105 based on the sender number included in the original short message, similar to an e-mail user clicking on the “reply” button when replying to an e-mail message. The reply short message is routed to the sender mobile station 105 using the same steps described above to route the original message to the recipient mobile station 145.
Multi-media messaging service (MMS) is similar to SMS, except that in addition to text, multi-media messages can include graphics, audio, images and video. A multi-media message can be transmitted from a sender mobile station 105 to a recipient mobile station 145 in a similar manner as an SMS, except that the SMSC 120 is replaced by a multi-media messaging center (MMSC), which provides corresponding functions for multi-media messages. In some instances, for example, if the recipient mobile station 145 is not MMS-enabled, the MMSC stores the content of the multi-media message and sends a short message, referred to as a “notification message”, to the recipient mobile station 145 advising the recipient mobile station 145 that there is a multi-media message available for the recipient to retrieve from a location provided in the notification message as a link, for example, to a URL. A user of the recipient mobile station 145 can click on the link and retrieve the content of the multi-media message from the location, which may be a server included in the MMSC. A recipient of a multi-media message can be an e-mail address, in which case the MMSC routes the multi-media message to an application server, i.e., an e-mail server. MMS is a global service and also uses various well known protocols and standards.